April 26, 2006

Joe Klein's "Politics Lost"

Joe Klein's "Politics Lost" is a really good book, one of the best pieces of non-fiction I've read in a while. It's a history of political consultants, focusing on the last 40 years of presidential campaigns, a look at why some were successful and some failed, a look at how the campaigns were shaped by consultants and how the campaigns were shaped by the men whose names were on the ballot. Klein's been covering politics for years, and these are his own first-hand observations and insights. And the book's a masterpiece. I feel like I'm usually fairly measured in my praise of things, but, really, I can't recommend this book more highly to anyone who has any interest in this sort of thing. I interned for a political consulting firm one summer, and so maybe it's just because this stuff really interests me that I find the book such a good read. It's non-partisan -- he has praise and criticism for everyone. Reading it makes me want to go find a dark-horse candidate for '08 and beg for a job.

Update: Here's the Times review, from April 30. Points out some legitimate flaws, but it's a positive review overall.